I like the update for the most part, but the one change I wasn't really fond of was the change of making Scipio trip out because Brunis blew Pap at him rather than accepting the offer to try it and becoming overwhelmed after using it... The change just makes Brunis seem like an inconsiderate dick in a sense for doing something not just without Scipio's consent, but with him explicitly refusing the offer initially. It also takes away from the aspect of Scipio stepping out of his comfort zone leading to him being confronted by his fears of thef unknown as he enters an unfamiliar territory. Instead it just feels kind of random and forced with how it happens in the updated version.
I get that the new decision was probably to avoid making it a story that had a focus on substance use themes, but it could still be included without the substance use being a main focul point and instead just allowing it to be a tool to help convey the overall concepts of the story during this one scene. Essentially it would be similar to how Cassius used the stuff in the original to Adastra story attempting to contact The parents that ended up helping Marco to meet the parents.
Anyways besides that I think the new story and all the new illustrations are awesome! Keep up the amazing work :D